Many fanciers add apple cider vinegar to the drinking water. Some even swear by it as a contributory factor to their success. But do they know how it works and  what are the actual physical effect it has on the pigeons?

LACTOBACILLUS

One of the ways that the bowel protects itself from disease is through maintenance of a weakly acidic environment. It  is able to do this because many of the normal good bacteria present, such as Lactobacillus, produce lactic acid.

With stress the Lactobacilli are one of the first bacteria to be lost and so acid production falls and PH rises resulting in a less acidic bowel.

By the way, when an antibiotic is absorbed (even by ourselves), as well as killing the "bad" bacteria, it  kills the "good" ones too!  It just wipes the lot out, including our allies, such as Lactobacilli. This is the reason why tonics, vitamins etc. should be given (and taken by ourselves!) after an antibiotic.

Potentially disease causing organisms such as E.coli, Salmonella, Paratyphoid, Adenovirus, Fungals, Canker, Trichomoniasis, Ornithosis and  Thrush (yeast) don't survive well in a usual acidic environment, and so the loss of this acidic environment creates a window of opportunity for these to establish and multiply.

Anything that re-establishes the normal acidic environment quickly minimizes the chances of diseases. 

ADDING ACID TO THE DRINKING WATER

One way of re-establishing the normal acidic environment in the bowel is to add acid to the drinking water. There are dose rates available for acids such as hydrochloric acid, but as these acids can be quite dangerous to handle, their use is not encouraged.

One that is commonly used is acetic acid, which you can buy in your local supermarket as Apple Cider Vinegar. The suggested dos rate is 5ml per litre.

Alternatively, citric acid can be used. It is interesting that many of the older bird books recommended squeezing lemon juice (citric acid!) to the drinkers. Some old secrets still work well today.

There are also commercially prepared options - Pigeon Vitality have such products.

Used correctly, acids can do the birds no harm, and can be a handy way of controlling mild infection without resorting to antibiotics.